Time to fire some modafokas
Time to fire some modafokas
Alexander Vindman, present at the US president’s conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, considered the worrying call for national security
Alexander Vindman, Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Army and an expert advisor in Ukraine, is the first member of the White House to testify before the House committees that are conducting preliminary investigations of the impeachment against Donald Trump that was present when produces the controversial telephone conversation that is at the beginning of the political trial against the president.
The encirclement for the process in Congress against Donald Trump narrows a little more every day with the statements of the witnesses who know first hand the conversation that the president of the United States held on July 25 with Volodimir Zelensky, in which the US president asked as "a favor" to his counterpart in Ukraine to investigate the son of his political rival to harm the latter's chances before the 2020 elections.
Vindman listened to the conversation, as was his responsibility as head of European affairs within the National Security Council (NSC) and his role as chief adviser to the president regarding the former Soviet republic. As The New York Times has announced , which has had access to the written statement that Vindman is going to give this Tuesday, the military concluded after hearing the telephone conversation that what had happened was unethical and endangered national security.
"I didn't think it was appropriate to ask a foreign government to investigate a US citizen, and I was concerned about the implications of Ukraine's support for the US Government," reads the story written by Lieutenant Colonel. Vindman was assigned to the White House in July 2018, where he approved the military strategy regarding Russia, which also included Ukraine. His added value for the position he held was based on his knowledge of military geopolitics as well as his perfect mastery of Russian and Ukrainian, because he emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union with his family when he was three years old.
Despite his work as a presidential advisor on Ukraine , Vindman never had direct contact with the president or communicated with him in any other way. The military describes himself as "an immigrant" and "a patriot." "It is an honor and a sacred duty to defend our country, above parties or policies," writes the military in his statement. Vindman was awarded the Purple Cross after being injured in Iraq.
The war veteran makes clear in his testimony that he is not the anonymous confidant who denounced the pressure exerted by the White House on Ukraine to harm the former Democratic president and candidate for the nomination of his party, Joe Biden. Vindman's testimony adds to the same concern that other senior White House officials had regarding Trump's interested policy towards Ukraine, as is the case of Fiona Hill, one of Vindman's superiors, who has testified before closed door that both she and then National Security Advisor John Bolton were outraged by attempts to politicize the relationship with Ukraine.
More than a month ago that the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, ordered to open a political trial investigation against Trump for having violated the Constitution. "The president must be accountable," said Pelosi, "no one is above the law." Since then, Trump's White House has refused to collaborate and even prevented testifying to key figures in the process.
To define a new phase of the impeachment procedure , the Chamber presiding over Pelosi will vote, for the first time, in plenary session a resolution to ratify the investigation and formalize the political process against Trump. The Democratic resolution will be presented on Tuesday and will be submitted to a first committee vote on Wednesday. Thursday will be voted in the Chamber, where almost certainly will succeed. The chairman of the House Rules and Procedures Committee, Democrat Jim McGovern, said Thursday's vote "will guarantee transparency [of the process] and provide a clear path forward."
But it does not matter that the Democrats try to silence the voting voices that call the process illegal, either through the president's Twitter account or by political actors opposed to the impechment . The White House insists on drawing the political process against Trump as a witch hunt and uses the announcement of Pelosi's vote in favor of his thesis by arguing that with him the Democrats recognize that the prosecution was irregular.
White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said Pelosi "is finally admitting what the rest of the United States knows." "That the Democrats are carrying out an unauthorized dismissal process without giving the president due process, and that his secret, murky, closed-door statements are completely illegitimate," Grisham said.
Through a letter to the congressmen, the president of Congress assures that Thursday's vote will guarantee due process rights for Trump and his lawyers, in addition to establishing a mechanism to hold public hearings and to disseminate transcripts in the framework of the investigation valid. "We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt about whether the Trump administration can withhold documents, avoid witness statements, ignore duly authorized subpoenas or continue obstructing the House of Representatives," the president concludes.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/10/29/estados_unidos/1572368644_740599.html
**Alexander Vindman, present at the US president’s conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, considered the worrying call for national security**
Alexander Vindman, Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Army and an expert advisor in Ukraine, is the first member of the White House to testify before the House committees that are conducting preliminary investigations of the impeachment against Donald Trump that was present when produces the controversial telephone conversation that is at the beginning of the political trial against the president.
The encirclement for the process in Congress against Donald Trump narrows a little more every day with the statements of the witnesses who know first hand the conversation that the president of the United States held on July 25 with Volodimir Zelensky, in which the US president asked as "a favor" to his counterpart in Ukraine to investigate the son of his political rival to harm the latter's chances before the 2020 elections.
Vindman listened to the conversation, as was his responsibility as head of European affairs within the National Security Council (NSC) and his role as chief adviser to the president regarding the former Soviet republic. As The New York Times has announced , which has had access to the written statement that Vindman is going to give this Tuesday, the military concluded after hearing the telephone conversation that what had happened was unethical and endangered national security.
"I didn't think it was appropriate to ask a foreign government to investigate a US citizen, and I was concerned about the implications of Ukraine's support for the US Government," reads the story written by Lieutenant Colonel. Vindman was assigned to the White House in July 2018, where he approved the military strategy regarding Russia, which also included Ukraine. His added value for the position he held was based on his knowledge of military geopolitics as well as his perfect mastery of Russian and Ukrainian, because he emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union with his family when he was three years old.
Despite his work as a presidential advisor on Ukraine , Vindman never had direct contact with the president or communicated with him in any other way. The military describes himself as "an immigrant" and "a patriot." "It is an honor and a sacred duty to defend our country, above parties or policies," writes the military in his statement. Vindman was awarded the Purple Cross after being injured in Iraq.
The war veteran makes clear in his testimony that he is not the anonymous confidant who denounced the pressure exerted by the White House on Ukraine to harm the former Democratic president and candidate for the nomination of his party, Joe Biden. Vindman's testimony adds to the same concern that other senior White House officials had regarding Trump's interested policy towards Ukraine, as is the case of Fiona Hill, one of Vindman's superiors, who has testified before closed door that both she and then National Security Advisor John Bolton were outraged by attempts to politicize the relationship with Ukraine.
More than a month ago that the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, ordered to open a political trial investigation against Trump for having violated the Constitution. "The president must be accountable," said Pelosi, "no one is above the law." Since then, Trump's White House has refused to collaborate and even prevented testifying to key figures in the process.
To define a new phase of the impeachment procedure , the Chamber presiding over Pelosi will vote, for the first time, in plenary session a resolution to ratify the investigation and formalize the political process against Trump. The Democratic resolution will be presented on Tuesday and will be submitted to a first committee vote on Wednesday. Thursday will be voted in the Chamber, where almost certainly will succeed. The chairman of the House Rules and Procedures Committee, Democrat Jim McGovern, said Thursday's vote "will guarantee transparency [of the process] and provide a clear path forward."
But it does not matter that the Democrats try to silence the voting voices that call the process illegal, either through the president's Twitter account or by political actors opposed to the impechment . The White House insists on drawing the political process against Trump as a witch hunt and uses the announcement of Pelosi's vote in favor of his thesis by arguing that with him the Democrats recognize that the prosecution was irregular.
White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said Pelosi "is finally admitting what the rest of the United States knows." "That the Democrats are carrying out an unauthorized dismissal process without giving the president due process, and that his secret, murky, closed-door statements are completely illegitimate," Grisham said.
Through a letter to the congressmen, the president of Congress assures that Thursday's vote will guarantee due process rights for Trump and his lawyers, in addition to establishing a mechanism to hold public hearings and to disseminate transcripts in the framework of the investigation valid. "We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt about whether the Trump administration can withhold documents, avoid witness statements, ignore duly authorized subpoenas or continue obstructing the House of Representatives," the president concludes.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/10/29/estados_unidos/1572368644_740599.html
(post is archived)